Self-Hosting the Control Plane

The Infernet control plane is open source. You can run your own instance for:

• Full data sovereignty: inference requests and job history stay on your infrastructure
• Private networks: run a closed network of nodes and clients within your organization
• Custom pricing: set your own rates rather than using the public network’s rates
• Development: test protocol changes against a local control plane

What the Control Plane Is

The control plane is a Next.js application that runs on Node.js. It uses Supabase (Postgres + Realtime + Auth) for persistence and real-time features. The entire stack can be self-hosted.

Components:

control-plane/
├── Next.js app         (API routes + dashboard UI)
├── Supabase project    (Postgres + Realtime + Storage)
└── Signing keys        (platform keypair for CPR countersignatures)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Docker (for running Supabase locally)
• A server with a public IP (or domain) for nodes to reach

Option 1: Supabase Cloud + Deployed Next.js

This is the easiest path. Use Supabase’s hosted service for the database and deploy the Next.js app to Vercel, Railway, or any Node.js host.

Set Up Supabase

1. Create a project at supabase.com
2. Note your project URL and anon key
3. Run the Infernet schema migrations:

git clone https://github.com/infernetprotocol/infernet
cd infernet/control-plane

# Install Supabase CLI
npm install -g supabase

# Link to your project
supabase link --project-ref your-project-ref

# Run migrations
supabase db push

Deploy the Next.js App

cd infernet/control-plane

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Set environment variables
cp .env.example .env.local

Required env vars in .env.local:

# Supabase
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-anon-key
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your-service-role-key

# Platform signing key (generate with: infernet keys generate-platform)
PLATFORM_SIGNING_KEY=your-platform-private-key-hex

# App URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://your-control-plane.example.com

# Optional: restrict to invited users only
REQUIRE_INVITE=true

Generate the platform signing key:

infernet keys generate-platform
# Platform private key: (hex) — save this securely
# Platform public key:  (hex) — register this on-chain if using payments

Deploy to Vercel:

npm run build
vercel deploy --prod

Or to Railway:

railway up

Option 2: Fully Self-Hosted (Supabase Local)

For maximum control, run Supabase locally with Docker.

# Start Supabase
cd infernet/control-plane
supabase start

# This starts: Postgres, Studio, Auth, Realtime, Storage
# Outputs: API URL and keys for your local instance

The local Supabase dashboard is at http://localhost:54323.

Configure .env.local with the local URLs from supabase start output, then run the Next.js app:

npm run dev
# Control plane running at http://localhost:3000

For production local deployment, build and run with pm2 or a process manager:

npm run build
pm2 start npm --name infernet-cp -- start

Pointing the CLI at Your Control Plane

After setting up the control plane, configure the CLI to use it:

# During setup
infernet setup --control-plane https://your-control-plane.example.com

# Or update config directly
infernet config set control_plane_url https://your-control-plane.example.com

# Restart daemon
infernet service restart

Or edit ~/.infernet/config.json:

{
  "control_plane_url": "https://your-control-plane.example.com"
}

Verify the connection:

infernet doctor
# Should show: [OK] Control plane: reachable (your-control-plane.example.com)

Creating the First Admin Account

On a fresh control plane, you need to create the first admin account manually via the Supabase dashboard or directly in the database:

-- In Supabase SQL editor
INSERT INTO profiles (id, email, role)
VALUES (
  auth.uid(),  -- After creating via Supabase Auth
  'admin@yourdomain.com',
  'admin'
);

Or use the Supabase dashboard: Authentication → Users → Invite user.

Private Network Configuration

For a fully private network where only your nodes participate:

# Disable public node registration
# In .env.local:
REQUIRE_NODE_APPROVAL=true

# Nodes will need manual approval via dashboard
# Settings → Nodes → Pending Approval

Client API tokens are issued from the dashboard. For a private network, issue tokens only to your authorized clients.

Payment Setup for Self-Hosted

If you want payments on your self-hosted network:

1. Deploy the payment contracts to your chosen chain (contracts in infernet/contracts/)
2. Set the contract addresses in your control plane config:

# .env.local
PAYMENT_CONTRACT_BASE=0x...
PAYMENT_CONTRACT_ETHEREUM=0x...
PLATFORM_SIGNING_KEY=0x...  # Must match what's registered in the contract

For a purely private internal network where you don’t need crypto payments, you can disable the payment system entirely:

PAYMENTS_ENABLED=false

In this mode, jobs are tracked but no escrow or CPR logic runs.

Upgrading

git pull origin main
cd infernet/control-plane
npm install
supabase db push  # Apply new migrations
npm run build
pm2 restart infernet-cp

Check the changelog for breaking migrations before upgrading.